Miss Thailand Maria Poonlertlarp has received praise from many for her top-five finish in this year's Miss Universe competition. But her answer to one of the judges' questions has attracted online criticism.
Maria, a 25-year-old Swedish-Thai beauty, had become one of the favourites to win the competition over the weekend. Thais had taken to Twitter to send support using the hashtag #MissuniverseThailand2017.
However, Maria could only reach the final five on Monday morning. Many think that her failure to win was to due to her answer to the question: "What do you think has been the most important social movement of your generation, and why?"
Maria replied: "I think the most important social movement, so far, is that we're having an ageing population. So the most important movement in our time is definitely the youth. So the youth is the future. The youth is something we have to invest in because they are the ones who are going to look after the Earth that we live in."
Maria's placement in the final five was the best finish for a Thai entrant in 29 years. Thailand has won the title twice, when Apasra Hongsakula and Porntip "Pui" Nakhirunkanok were crowned in 1965 and 1988 respectively.
On social media, many Thais defended Maria's response. They said the question was too broad and Maria did her best in the limited time.
However, others argued that her answer cost her the title, saying that she missed the mark and demonstrated a lack of understanding of the term "social movement."
"I think she should have narrowed down her answer and emphasised a social movement relating to gender and economics, such as LGBT or Occupy Wall Street," one observer pointed out.
Others suggested that feminism and the hashtag #MeToo, the current movement concerning sexual harassment against woman, would have provided stronger answers in the current international climate.
